IT'S CRAIG BLIETZ'S YEAR
CRAIG BLIETZ: HERD
Museuem of Wisconsin Art
205 Veterans Avenue
West Bend, WI 53095
262.334.9638, wisconsinart.org
October 13–January 13
CRAIG BLIETZ (b. 1956), He/lanthus, 2018, oil on panel, 48 x 60 in., on view at the Museum of Wisconsin Art
The Wisconsin painter Craig Blietz is the toast of his native state, thanks to two exhibitions on view this season. His solo show at the Museum of Wisconsin Art features a new body of 30 works that depict the cows so beloved in this dairy-minded state. As seen here in Helianthus, Blietz places his impeccably drawn cows front and center, allowing them to float in a depth-less background of quilt-like patterns and muted agrarian symbols. (Note the sunflowers at left and barn at right.) The seemingly abstract designs of his cowhides are far from accidental, however: Blietz knows his cow models well and can distinguish one from the next with ease. The resulting scenes - part psychedelic, part Barbizon School - are a unique contribution to American art and deserve more attention beyond the Midwest.
Blietz is also participating in a group exhibition at the Plymouth Arts Center (Plymouth, WI) titled In Fine Form: The Human Presence. On view October 12-November 30, this project shifts attention away from four-legged animals to two-legged ones like us.
*The article appears on page 115 in the October 2018 issue of Fine Art Connoisseur